


Operation Baby Project

by cazrhys



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/F, Hizzie and Jandon have babies but they aren't real, Watermelons, baby project
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:35:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24821710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cazrhys/pseuds/cazrhys
Summary: "I do not want to have a son with Hope Mikaelson," Lizzie says. "She'll want to name it Frederick or something,""I would not," Hope declines. Emma moves to her desk, "In front of you is a packet. It'll monitor your success over two weeks. I'll leave you to it,""Two weeks?" Josie asks, holding the baby as if it were a live bomb. "Can't we just take a test?" Josie and Landon's baby had brown eyes and curly brown hair. "Do they have names or are we just supposed to call it Baby?" Landon asks, eye wide as saucers as he stares at it.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Lizzie Saltzman
Comments: 2
Kudos: 105





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> You might recognize this but I accidentally deleted it so I'm reposting it lmao rip me

Emma Tig sits an oversized watermelon in front of Lizzie and Hope. "What," Lizzie asks, looking at the watermelon is disdain. "Is this?"

Emma hushes her, "Just a moment," She says until each other person has a watermelon. "You'll be working in a group of two," Emma explains, walking around the classroom.

"What are we going to do? Eat it?" Landon asks, Josie holding their watermelon. A few snickers as they eye the green rounds before them.

"You're all older now," Emma says, "What you're feeling and doing is natural," Lizzie spins in her seat, "My mom has already given me _the talk_ , I certainly don't need it from you,"

"Please, Ms. Saltzman, let me finish," Emma tells her. From the look on her face, Hope knows she wishes she explained the project before handing out the watermelons, which now only served as a distraction.

"This, however, is just a reminder of what _can_ happen if you aren't safe," Emma tells the class, her heels clicking against the marble floor as she walks. Hope's eyebrows furrow as she watches the teacher with uncertainty.

"We'll get watermelons?" Hope asks. A smile quirks at Emma's lips, the room buzzing as she casts her spell. Hope had long gotten used to it. Josie lets out a small scream as the fruit turns into a _living, breathing baby_ and nearly falls out of her arms.

"No," Someone exclaims. Cries soon fill the air. "Yes," Emma says, enjoying this more than she thinks she should. The child before her has blue eyes with strawberry blonde hair, nearly an orange rather than her red hair, clad in nothing more than a diaper. She suspects that the baby is supposed to be little more than six months old from spending time with little Nik.

The baby has Lizzie's nose and signature smile as it sucks on their fingers, drool sliding into their hand. Hope's nose crinkles. "The child is a representation of you and your partner. You've been assigned a male or female based on your seating. Boy, girl, boy, girl," Emma says.

"I do not want to have a son with _Hope MIkaelson_ ," Lizzie says. "She'll want to name it _Frederick_ or something,"

"I would not," Hope declines. Emma moves to her desk, "In front of you is a packet. It'll monitor your success over two weeks. I'll leave you to it,"

" _Two weeks_?" Josie asks, holding the baby as if it were a live bomb. "Can't we just take a test?" Josie and Landon's baby had brown eyes and curly brown hair. "Do they have names or are we just supposed to call it Baby?" Landon asks, eye wide as saucers as he stares at it.

It was freaky how much these babies looked like them. Hope knew it was glamour and these things weren't real. If they were, they would have some explaining to do.

"Whatever you like," Emma says, explaining that everything they needed to do was in the packet she handed out at the beginning of class. "What do we do during school hours?" A girl, Piper, asks.

"Most of your classes have been canceled. Your teachers and I have agreed this is an excellent learning experience," _No,_ Hope thinks. _You just want to watch us miserably flail around for the next two weeks_.

"What are we naming it?" Hope asks, running her hand over her face. The baby babbles, laughing giddily as Lizzie makes faces at them. "Him. He isn't it. Not unless he decides he wants to be, anyway,"

Hope narrows her eyes, "He's a goddamn watermelon," She says. "I don't think he cares,"

"He might,"

Hope was surprised by how quickly Lizzie had taken to the baby. "I like the name Julius," She says, clicking her pen. Lizzie rolls her eyes, "Where are we? Rome? Do you _want_ him to get stabbed two dozen times?"

"Fine, Lizzie, what do you have in that big brain of yours?" Hope snickers. She wonders if they carry the magic their 'parents' do. Hope had heard stories of the magic she'd pulled as an infant — she'd seen baby Nik nearly burn down his house because he got overly excited while watching Peppa Pig.

"I like the name... Colton,"

"No," Hope says. "I refuse to call him _Colton_ ,"

Lizzie rolls her eyes, accepting the bag of things supposed to tide them over for the next two weeks. Inside is diapers, clothes, wipes, and powder. Hope can smell it from where she sits.

"Fine. Ezra,"

Hope thinks for a moment before nodding. She hadn't put much thought to what she'd name her child. She hadn't even known if she _wanted_ to have children. Surely, if she did, they would be named after her parents in some shape or form. Hayley or maybe Hallie. Nicola or Nicole or the masculine form of those names.

"Ezra Alaric Nikolas Saltzman-Mikaelson it is," Lizzie smirks, scribbling it down on the paper. "Nikolas?" Hope repeats. She doesn't hate the name. "Well, Klaus doesn't sound right and Nik is too short. Niklaus sounds _off_ ," Lizzie explains. Quickly adding, "I'd feel weird for just suggesting Alaric,"

"Thank you," Hope says, unsure of what else to say. "Good. You can change his first diaper,"

Hope groans.

Josie holds the baby, pointing. "This is your Aunt Lizzie and Aunt Hope," She coos. "Lizzie, Hope, this is Daisy Caroline Kirby-Saltzman,"

"You seem... _chipper,"_ Hope points out. Josie shrugs, bouncing the baby. "I mean, how hard can it be?"

Really fucking hard, as they would soon learn. "Maybe it's broken or something," Lizzie says, her hair pulled into a pile at the top of her head. She rubs her tired eyes. "Yeah, that's not helping, Lizzie," Hope snaps, running her hand over Ezra's back. It does little to soothe him.

" _God_ , just make it stop," Lizzie complains. "Maybe I should call my mom?"

Hope freezes — when she imagined herself with a baby, she thought Hayley would be right beside her, showing her the things she was doing wrong. Her chest burns as she turns away — tears of both frustration and sadness burning at her eyes.

"Shit— I'm sorry," Lizzie begins. Hope shakes her head, "Don't worry,"

Lizzie excuses herself to find a phone.

"You're back?" Hope turns when she hears the door flies open. Instead, she finds Josie. "You too?" She huffs. "They must be doing this on purpose, right? I mean, if we had a baby and it was easy, they might think we're going to run off and get pregnant — they can't _scream_ this much?" Josie rambles.

"Where's Landon?" Hope asks over the screaming of Ezra. "With Daisy. I thought something was wrong with her but I guess not,"

"Emma said we aren't allowed to leave them outside," Josie says. She looks at though the sky is falling with the dark circles under her eyes, her tousled hair, and crinkled clothing. "Josie!" Landon's panicked voice comes down. "I think there's something—" Landon's next words are jumbled but Josie curses and turns to leave, "I hope you have better luck,"

Lizzie comes back moments later, a victorious expression on her face. She has a glass bowl, long ice cubes inside. "He can't choke," Lizzie explains as she offers him one. Hope waits with baited breathe as he sucks for a moment then quiets down.

"Oh _god_ ," Hope sighed with relief. "My mom said Ezra might be teething," Lizzie added, chomping down on her piece of ice.

Hope continues to bounce him on her hip, Lizzie watching with a small smile. "What?" Hope asks.

"Nothing," Lizzie says, leaving both of them smiling at each other. 


	2. Chapter Two

"This is Jane," MG says, his grin nearly contagious. _Nearly._ Had she gotten more than two hours of sleep, she might've been happier. Kaleb stands beside him. "Yeah, Jane Hawkins,"

Hope doesn't understand why the vampires had to participate in this assignment. They couldn't accidentally conceive a child nor could they impregnate someone.

"I wanted to name her Eleven but Kaleb said he refused to call her that," MG explained. He didn't seem all that tired and it had begun irritating Hope, if she were being quite honest — maybe their babies were easier? Students would be in an outcry if half the senior population were exempt from this... _study_?

"We're not naming our child after a character from an old-ass TV show," Kaleb tells him, taking Jane in his arms. "That doesn't make it any less _amazing,"_ MG interjected, shaking his head.

Alaric agreed to watch Daisy and Ezra for a few hours, laughing himself hoarse at their misery. "You've been doing this for twelve hours," He chuckled, tossing Daisy into the air softly while Lizzie held a sleeping Ezra against her chest. "How do you expect to manage two weeks?"

Hope remembered the way Lizzie's eyebrows narrowed, eyes lighting up at it. "Is that a _challenge?"_ Lizzie asked. "You know what? Hope and I are going to _destroy_ this," Then, she'd taken Ezra and insisted on watching him for himself. So, now, Hope watched the students with their watermelon-babies.

Rafael came in the soon filling classroom, holding his blonde-haired child. Otherwise, the baby boy looked just like him. "Where's Irene?" Hope asked. Rafael shrugged, "She's sick," He paused. "She's not exactly that into this,"

"If I could get away with not doing it," Hope says, "I would," Irene had used the excuse of illness to avoid it and, somehow, gotten away with it? Hope _wishes_. Just then, Lizzie, Landon, and Josie walk in, each twin holding a child. "This is the _worst,"_ Josie complains.

"I can't last another two weeks," Lizzie says, passing the baby over to Hope. Kaleb laughed, taking a seat at the desk behind theirs. "It's not even that bad,"

Lizzie gave him a death glare, "Yeah, okay, Hawkins. Come back to me when she repeatedly shits every time you change her diaper," She turns to her, tucking a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. "No thanks to you,"

"You took him and left? What was I supposed to do?" Hope doesn't care that much. Lizzie shrugs, quieting when Emma walks in. "I hope you had a wonderful night," She says.

Half the students look like they've been on week-long benders. "What happens to them after two weeks?" Allison, a witch, asked. "Do our parents know about you giving us babies?"

The teacher says, "Remember, they are not real babies. Simply glamoured fruit but, to answer your question, they were notified," Emma begins writing on the green chalkboard, _PG 1-10 questions._

"After two weeks, they will disintegrate," Emma explains, dropping the piece of chalk at the metal tray then wipes her hands together, the powder coming off into the air.

"Wait, wait, wait," MG says incredulously. "They're going to _die_?"

"No," Emma corrects, sitting down in her chair. "They were never alive, to begin with,"

"Jane feels alive to me," Kaleb says, holding his baby into the air slightly. Emma bites her lip, maybe now realizing that giving teens babies — even if fake — wasn't the best idea. Hope doesn't know how she feels about it if she were being honest. She doesn't _want_ a real baby — she isn't sure if she ever _will_.

"Good," A girl says. "Carleigh has done nothing but cry and shit," With that, Emma _does_ seem remotely pleased, as though the assignment was working. "Any remaining questions will be saved for the end of class,"

"So, Hope, how do you feel about me?" Lizzie asks, dragging Hope from her thoughts. "What?" She asked. Lizzie rolled her eyes, pulling back the first page. This was supposed to help with student relations.

Hope doesn't exactly know what she felt about Lizzie. Sure, the blonde was annoying and her concerns about being with Lizzie for two weeks most of the day were still there but she didn't _hate_ it?

Hope hates plenty of things. She hates that she couldn't help her mother. She _hates_ birds ever since she was seven and one swooped down, stealing a seashell clip from her hair then proceeding to _shit_ on her. Rebekah had laughed, comforting the crying Hope to the best of her ability.

Marcel was better at it, cursing at the bird while holding in his laughter.

"I think I could've been paired with someone worse," Hope says. Lizzie feigns insult, "You mean you _wouldn't_ want to be paired with me by choice?" She pinches Ezra's cheek. "This cutie didn't get his good looks from nowhere,"

"You're right," Hope says, cocking her head to the side. Ezra sat in a portable high chair, his stubby legs poking out of the leg holes. Lizzie blinks in surprise, scowling when Hope finishes, "He got it from me,"

"The hair, maybe, but this baby is all Saltzman,"

"Hm, maybe," Hope relents.

"Okay, now, I like being your partner," Lizzie says. Then, Lizzie realizes what she said. "'I like being your partner'? Wow, Saltzman, are pigs flying?" Hope jokes, grinning.

"I never said that," Lizzie says, shaking her head. "Did I, Ezra?" The baby babbles, flinging his arms, and Lizzie's eyes crinkle with minimal disgust as a blob of saliva hits her face.

"Sure," Hope says, unable to keep herself from smiling.

"I'm filing for divorce," Lizzie deadpans. Hope laughs, "Huh, are you now? I am _betrayed_ ," Lizzie and Hope continue to fill out their paper.

Hope notices that the babies are happy and smiling and she wonders if it's because Emma doesn't want to hear the sounds of screaming for hours. Surely, Emma can control it? It's her magic, after all.

The thought momentarily hits her of 'what if the babies don't disappear?' before she brushes it away.

Lizzie was having too much fun with this. When Hope voiced this, Lizzie explained, "I'm just going along with it — after all, they'll be going back to fruit in, like, two weeks. It's not permanent," Lizzie says, "What are you doing tonight? I assume you aren't busy?"

Hope cracks her fingers. "Nothing, why?"

"Because I was wondering if you'd want to watch a movie," Lizzie explains. "I was thinking The Notebook or Mean Girls,"

"Mean Girls," Hope says.

"You're in?" Lizzie asks.

"Of course,"

Hours later, Hope held Lizzie's arm, dragging the marker over her skin. Flowers decorated her arm in a variety of shapes and colors. With her free hand, Lizzie shoved a few pieces of popcorn into her mouth.

"Did your dad teach you that?" Lizzie asks, leaning her head on Hope's ribs. "Not really," Hope explains. She sighs, thinking of the best way to describe everything. "My dad wasn't very... present," She doesn't know how to describe her childhood.

"I'm not one of those humans. I won't run away screaming," Lizzie says, tearing her eyes away from the screen. Hope's lips quirk into a small frown, "My dad thought it was safer to stay away. When I was two, my dad was held prisoner," She begins explaining. The tip of the marker slid over Lizzie's skin. "I didn't see him again until I was seven. Then, I came here and he..."

"I'm sorry," Lizzie says. Hope trades out her black marker for a red one, shading in the roses. "I told you something, now tell me something,"

While they had known each other for years, they hadn't ever talked.

"My mom is looking for people who need help. Supernatural students and all that jazz," Lizzie begins. "I miss her and I know I shouldn't be comparing the two because I still have my mom and—" Lizzie stops herself. "And—and you have no one,"

Hope can see the bob of her throat. "Not entirely," She meets Lizzie's eyes. "I have the Super Squad,"

They're close enough that Lizzie can feel Hope's breathe on her cheek. They jump away when Ezra lets out a loud shriek.


	3. Chapter Three

Hope isn't stupid — she knows that she'll be alone in this world soon enough. Rebekah has the cure, Freya is mortal, and one day, Davina Claire will die and Kol might choose to go with her. Marcel runs a city — he can't be distracted by her. Sure, he tells her he's free to talk whenever she likes but she doesn't want to bother him.

So, Lizzie Saltzman can either be nothing but a distraction or something to make her want to end it all. You know, Hope Mikaelson doesn't think she's ever been in love. She doesn't know if _love_ is what makes her hands clammy and her stomach knot or if it's the lack of sleep finally getting to her. She prays it's the latter.

Lizzie pushes the stroller, Ezra's little hand curled around a blanket Hope had when she was younger. "Ooh, wait," Lizzie says, turning to face her with a shit-eating grin. "Daisy was crying earlier and I couldn't figure out water problem was,"

Hope blinks, "I hate you,"

"You could _never,"_ Hope doesn't deny this.

"When we were younger, my mom used to take Josie and I here for ice cream," Lizzie begins explaining. "I remember I got an M&M stuck up my nose once,"

"...You know what? I'm not even going to ask," Hope says as Lizzie walked over to a bench. "I'll be right back," Hope says before walking in the store. She remembers Lizzie saying something about liking peanut butter once so that's what she gets her, cursing for not asking first.

Once she gets outside, Lizzie was raving about how _glad_ she was that Hope picked the right one. Hope let out a sigh of relief.

She took a bite of her down, sitting beside Lizzie with Ezra sleeping in front of them. "What do you plan on doing with your future?" Lizzie asks, licking her spoon. Hope sighs. "Honestly... I don't know. It's not like I need a good job for money. Though, I think I'd like to go to art school,"

Lizzie nods, commenting, "I think you're the best artist at school," Hope feels her face flush, "I—I _doubt_ that,"

"No, no," Lizzie says, "I'm not only saying this because you're the other mother of my fake baby but because I've seen you paint. I've seen your drawings. Amazing, spectacular, fantastic," Lizzie says, quoting something Hope can't recall, facing her. "I bet in, like, a hundred years, you'll be a Picasso,"

"You're flattering," says Hope while she stabs at her ice cream.

"You wanna repay me? Paint me like one of your French girls." Lizzie winks, swaying back and forth slightly until she can get her legs curled under her. "Haha, _kidding_ ,"

"What do you want to do?" Hope asks after a moment of silence. Lizzie sighs, "I have no fucking idea," She tosses her head back, her golden hair appearing whiter in the sun, the trees did little to shade anything other than the carefully positioned Ezra. "I think I want to be like my mom. I don't think I'd want to work at the school or anything. It's scary, you know. We've been sheltered our entire lives and... the world is terrifying. I know, I know what you're thinking — _god, Lizzie, you're being so dramatic_ ,"

"I don't think you're dramatic," Hope says. "I think it might be because I'm not immortal yet but I feel like time is running out,"

Lizzie's arms so slack, though she's careful to not drop her ice cream. "Let's talk about something else," Hope nods. "Like, how I'm fairly certain that Irene Jennings has a crush on you," Lizzie doesn't seem pleased as she says this.

Hope laughs, "Irene doesn't like _anyone_ besides MG and Callie," Lizzie only hums, clearly not believing her. "Irene is living embodiment of 'I can steal your girl if I want to'," Lizzie says.

Hope narrows her eyes, "What?"

Lizzie groans, "Do you _not_ use the internet?"

"We aren't allowed to have phones," Hope says, "So no,"

"God, that explains a lot about you,"

"Am I supposed to be offended?" Hope questions.

"It depends," Lizzie goes back to eating her half-melted ice cream. "Do you know what Vine is?"

Lizzie sighs at her blank expression, "I have tons to teach you, don't I?"

Lizzie Saltzman _might_ have a crush on Hope Mikaelson. She says _might_ because that by admitting to it, she'd be proving Josie right and she'd rather have _died_. When they were seven and Hope first arrived, Lizzie had called ' _dibs_ ' which resulted in an argument between the sisters, only ending when Caroline stopped them, explaining you cannot claim people.

So, yeah, Lizzie has it _bad_ and this stupid project was doing little to help it. Lizzie _understands_ what Emma and Alaric were going for when they did it. They lived at the boarding school all year long with very minimal supervision with, according to Emma, _raging hormones_.

"Just ask her out," Josie says. Lizzie mocks confusion, "What?"

"Hope, dumbass. I can see the way you've been looking at her," Josie says, watching as Daisy and Ezra slammed blocks against each other. Now, after a week and a half, the things they felt for their watermelons were wearing off.

Which, Lizzie thinks, was the purpose.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lizzie argues, blowing a bubble.

Josie scoffs, "Sure you don't,"

Lizzie gapes for a moment before sighing, "What if Hope decides that she doesn't like me — not even as a friend. I'm amazing, I know," Lizzie jokes before continuing, "But like mom says, 'not everyone will like you'."

Josie shrugs, "I thought the same with Pen. Look how we turned out,"

"She broke up with you and moved to France," Lizzie points out. A hurt expression flickers in Josie's eyes as Lizzie sucks in a sharp breathe, murmuring an apology. "No — I mean before that. We were happy, you know,"

Guilt swarms Lizzie, remembering a conversation she and Penelope had.

"What am I supposed to say, 'Hey, I know we _hate_ each other and the only reason we're talking is that we have a fake baby together but I like you'? No," Lizzie says, "I can't do that,"

"Plan something, then. I know you have all of mom's old party planning binders. You can find something," Josie says.

"What about Ezra?" Lizzie asks.

Josie sighs, her face scrunching up for a moment before she relents, "I'll watch him — but you _owe_ me,"

Lizzie smiles, "Oof, thank you,"

Josie rolls her eyes, "Of course,"

Elizabeth Saltzman was never the one for doing things without flare. Raised by Caroline Forbes, Lizzie had gotten her dramatics — more than she liked to admit. So here she was, on the dock, with fairy lights decorating the dock. She moved her fingers, the nice smelling candles scenting the air.

There were two canvases on light brown easels and a wide variety of paint sitting before her. If Hope came and was revolted at the sight of Lizzie trying to jump her bones, she would simply say that this was something she's done with all her friends.

She looked at her watch, hoping the oversized bird wouldn't get lost with Hope. With Landon and Josie's help, she's managed to make this better than she thought. Landon distracted Hope, claiming he needed her help in Magical History while Josie watched their baby.

She didn't think she would miss having a baby that much. Not while she was this young and they were programmed to cause as much distress as possible.

Lizzie folds her hands in front of her, wildly nervous. _You're amazing_ , she thinks, _It's gonna be great._

"Landon? Lizzie? What is this?" Hope asks after taking off the blindfold Landon forced her to wear. Landon shrugs, looking around. "I think Josie is yelling for me — I have to go," He winks at Lizzie, who rolled her eyes.

Lizzie had a speech planned but the words died in her throat, instead, she says, "I like you,"

Hope blinks and Lizzie curses herself. "What?"

"You know what? Fuck it," Lizzie says, "I _might_ have a crush on you, Hope Andrea Mikaelson. I might've done this because I want to have a date with you—" Lizzie sucks in a sharp breath as Hope takes small steps towards her.

"If you'd like to stay, I planned on us following Bob Ross painting tutorials but if you don't want to stay, I won't be upset," Lizzie says, though she knows that's a lie. She can feel her magic bubbling in her, dancing alongside her nerves. She regrets siphoning Irene earlier that day.

Hope beams, "Of course I'll go on this date with you," Hope looks around, eyeing everything. "You did this all for me?"

Lizzie lets out a nervous laugh, though she's beaming back. "You deserve nothing less,"


End file.
